Four inducted into Oil Producers' Wall of Fame

Thursday

Jun 30, 2011 at 12:01 AMJun 30, 2011 at 7:43 AM

On Friday, four legendary oilmen were posthumously honored for their contribution to the industry in this area. They were inducted into the New York State Oil Producers’ Association Wall of Fame at a ceremony in the Hahn and Shaffner building of the Pioneer Oil Museum.
The likenesses of John W. Walchli, Sr. of Wellsville, Burdett E. West and Loyd L. West of Millport, Pa. and Arthur E. Yahn Jr. of Olean were unveiled in front of friends and family.
John W. Walchli Sr., was 88 when he passed away in 2010. He was a 1939 graduate of Wellsville High School. He served with the 8th Air Force in England from 1943 to 1945 during World War II. After serving, he attended Syracuse University, graduating in 1946.
Returning to Wellsville in 1948, he went to work for Richardson Petroleum Corporation, retiring in 1986 as the president. During his career he participated in local oil and gas production. He was a member of the New York State Oil Producers' Association for more than 50 years and served as president twice. He was honored as chairman emeritus in 1986. He also served on the Energy Resources, Research and Technology Committee for the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact and served on the Tight Sands Committee of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. He served as chairman of the Eastern District Production Committee for the American Petroleum Institute and was the chairman of the Secondary Recovery Study Group for the Bradford, Pa. District of the Pennsylvania Grade Crude Oil Association.
“I know dad is here in spirit. Dad really loved the oil business and I know he would be honored,” said John Walchli Jr., accepting a duplicate plaque for the family to have.
Burdett E. West was 76 when he passed away in 2009 and his brother and business partner, Loyd, was 72 when he passed away in 1999. They were born in and were residents of Millport, Pa. and attended Shinglehouse High School.
Burdett West was a veteran of the U.S. Army, serving in Pusan, Korea from 1953 to 1954. After the military, he worked with his father at John R. West and Son.
Loyd West served in the U.S. Army during World War II.
In 1965, the brothers formed the West Brothers company and later Gas Field Specialists Inc., and Gas Field Specialists Energy.
Loyd worked in the gas and oil production throughout New York state for 26 years. Based out of the Fredonia Field Office, he was among the first operators to develop the gas fields in Chautauqua County.
Burdett worked in the oil and gas industry for over 30 years, expanding operations of the West Company into Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany, Chemung, Steuben, Schuyler and Tompkins counties in New York and Bradford, Tioga and Clinton counties in Pennsylvania. The company is directly responsible for production activities including evaluation of well ending techniques and production equipment.
Burdett was a member and past director of the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York and the New York State Oil Producers' Association.
Bea West, Burdett's widow, said, "I always said Burdett had more loves than me and that he loved those oil wells more than me. I was very jealous of them. He’d be very embarrassed to know we were making such a fuss.”
Arthur E. Yahn Jr. was 67 when passed away in 1983. He was born in Olean and was a graduate of Princeton University in 1939 and attended Harvard Law School and the Wharton School of Business. He was president and treasurer of the DY-M Corporation and vice president of the Messer Oil Company and Dymo Oil Corporation and was on the board of directors of the Messer Oil Corporation and Columbia Gas.
Yahn’s sister, Charlotte Murphy, said, “Arthur absolutely loved the oil business and he would be so proud of this.”
The four inductees join the portraits of 21 previously inducted oilmen. Kelly Lounsberry, of the board of the Pioneer Oil Museum explained, “The New York State Oil Producers’ Association Wall started the wall because they wanted to honor the men who made a significant contribution to the development of the oil industry in this area.”

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